Rampage welcomes back alumni during annual cabaret

Rampage show choir and sketch comedy troupe Who’s Askin’ joined forces on Saturday night to fill Modern Theatre with a combination of music and humor during the Rampage Alumni Cabaret.

The show began with a collection of indie acts, where soloists or small groups of singers performed a song of their choosing, highlighting the talent and personality of individual members. The set list spanned a variety of genres and styles, including pop bands like Panic! At the Disco and the recently reunited Jonas Brothers, as well as hit Broadway show tunes from “Wicked” and “Phantom of the Opera.”

“I’m excited to sing something for everyone and let everyone see all the different tastes all the members of our group have,” Grayson Collins, a freshman and member of Rampage, said in an interview with The Suffolk Journal before the cabaret.

Who’s Askin’ added a comedic layer to the show as they cracked jokes while introducing songs, and interacted with Rampage members by handing them props and acting alongside them during their indie acts.

For example, while Katie Johnson, Carina Fresa and Rebecca McAuliffe belted the nostalgic 2007 Jonas Brothers song “That’s Just The Way We Roll,” members from Who’s Askin’ threw a plush whale on stage during the lyric “there’s a whale in the pool with my mother” and pretended to paint the side of the stage when the girls sang the line “And my dad paints the house different colors.”

While some songs were funny, others took more of a serious route to focus on the song and less on acting. Freshman Hannah Voteur brought the crowd to a standstill as she sang “Think of Me” from “Phantom of the Opera,” exhibiting her soprano vocal range, which was always on pitch.

Another song performed during the annual cabaret invited former Rampage members to join the group in a rendition of “Morning Glow” from the musical “Pippin,” which was in the show choir’s set last year, and three alumni joined the current students.

“It’s kind of nice to see the different versions of Rampage that they all have in their minds because everyone remembers it differently because obviously the group changes throughout the years,” Fresa, a sophomore and the Rampage media coordinator, said in an interview with The Journal.

In addition to Who’s Askin’ hosting the event and introducing songs, the comedy group also performed original sketches, causing the audience to erupt with laughter at their witty sense of humor.

For instance, in one of the sketches, actors Ma’chel Martin and Austin Sheridan could not agree on the difference between what a cough and a sneeze sound like. To prove each of their points, they both tried to mimic the sound of a cough versus a sneeze until they were obnoxiously and loudly hacking at each other.

“I think it’s really great, the process of comedy, seeing when you get up on stage you see what does work, what doesn’t work,” said Sheridan. “Then you go back to the drawing board and rewrite.”

Rampage recently competed in the Fame National Show Choir competition in New York City, where they performed a routine of five songs. Rampage ended the cabaret by performing the same set inside Modern Theatre, giving the Suffolk community the chance to see the 20-minute routine they have been working on all year.

From the first note of “Stronger” from the musical “Finding Neverland,” which kicked off their routine, to the final chord in “Peace and Love Inc.” by Information Society, the show choir was bursting with hip-hop dance moves and up-tempo tunes, ending the cabaret with an energetic vibe.

“It’s one of those songs you hate in rehearsal because it takes up so much energy and you’re so tired, but on stage with the adrenaline and the audience reactions, it’s so much fun,” said Fresa when describing the rehearsal process for “Peace and Love Inc.”

Rampage will be performing at the annual variety show Springfest on April 26 and Who’s Askin’ will be at Improv Asylum on April 24.